????互聯網的帶寬越來越大，網速越來越快，越來越多的人得以在互聯網上下載軟件、看視頻、玩在線游戲。與此同時，網絡襲擊也越來越復雜，破壞性越來越強。

????據阿卡邁公司（Akamai）本周發(fā)布的年度《互聯網現狀》報告顯示，2012年美國的寬帶網速猛增了28%。這種趨勢也側面解釋了上周三阿卡邁公司發(fā)布的第一季度財報為何如此搶眼。

????阿卡邁公司的主要業(yè)務是為新聞集團（News Corp.）、Facebook、蘋果（Apple）、任天堂（Nintendo）、Netflix等公司管理、交付網絡內容。這些公司需要的網絡內容越多，阿卡邁公司的業(yè)績就越好。隨著寬帶網速的增長，在網絡上在線看視頻、玩游戲、下載軟件的人也越來越多。阿卡邁公司在一次與分析師的電話會議上表示，所有這些業(yè)務都提高了它的盈利水平。

????除去一次性項目后，阿卡邁公司的凈利潤從2012年第一季度的每股36美分猛增到今年第一季度的每股51美分，收入也增長了15%，達到3.68億美元，均超過了分析師預測的47美分的利潤和3.581億美元的營收。利潤猛增的同時，它的成本僅上漲了8%。與此同時，這家公司還預計第二季度也將呈健康增長態(tài)勢。截至本周四中午，它的股價已經飆升了20%，達到每股43.45美元。

????阿卡邁公司第一季度的出色業(yè)績足以抵消某些媒體關于“分手”報道的負面影響——尤其是一家大型視頻服務提供商據說以后將不再與阿卡邁合作，據信這很有可能就是Netflix。Netflix正在建立自己的網絡，將把大部分流量管理工作從阿卡邁和其它網絡服務商那里抽出來，交給自家網絡運營。對阿卡邁來說，Netflix的抽離預計在下個季度末就會完成。

????去年六月，Netflix宣布將自行建立一個叫Open Connect的網絡。當時，阿卡邁的股價就曾經受到了一定打擊。不過投資者們很快意識到，雖然Netflix是阿卡邁的一個大客戶，但是從長期看來，此舉實際上對阿卡邁公司是一件好事。因為由于Netflix強大的議價能力，來自這家公司的利潤其實很微薄。隨著Netflix繼續(xù)抽離它的業(yè)務，阿卡邁可以省下更多的網絡帶寬，以更高的價格賣給小客戶。而且，Netflix其實只是個個案，因為即便是大企業(yè)，也很少愿意在自己的網絡上、自己進行流量管理的。這筆帳對于Netflix還說得通，但是至少在可見的將來內，除了少數直接向用戶交付內容的公司之外，其它各行各業(yè)的公司都不見得會這樣做。谷歌（Google）旗下的視頻網站YouTube則是另一家自己管理內容交付網絡的公司。

????除了平均網速的躍升外，今年的《互聯網現狀》報告還注意到，最近的網絡襲擊事件大幅增多，同時這些網絡襲擊的復雜程度也提高了。但這也給阿卡邁公司帶來了好處。阿卡邁公司表示，它的“性能和安全性解決方案”貢獻的營收入比去年同期上漲了17%，達到1.57億美元。公司CEO湯姆森?雷頓在這次與分析師的電話會議中說道：

????“過去幾個月發(fā)生的事情充分體現出，任何在網絡上做生意的企業(yè)都要為安全問題費盡苦心。網絡襲擊的規(guī)模變得更大了，同時變得更頻繁、更多樣、更復雜，而且它們是在全球范圍內發(fā)動的。比如在一次代號為‘燕子行動’的網絡襲擊里，我們在保護美國銀行客戶的過程中發(fā)現，發(fā)動襲擊的服務器的位置分散在100多個國家。這些高度分散的襲擊說明，為什么企業(yè)需要重新思考網絡安全性問題，同時也說明，為什么我們相信，客戶需要我們的分散式平臺提供的獨特優(yōu)勢。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????Broadband speed in the United States jumped by 28% in 2012, according to Akamai's (AKAM) annual "State of the Internet" report issued this week. That trend helps explain why Akamai's first-quarter results, released late Wednesday, look so good.

????Akamai manages and delivers Internet content for clients like News Corp. (NWSA), Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Nintendo (NTDOY), and Netflix (NFLX). The more content is demanded, the better Akamai does. As broadband speeds increase, more people watch video online, play games, and download software. The company said during its conference call with analyststhat all of those businesses added to its bottom line.

????Akamai's net profit, excluding one-time items, jumped to 51 cents per share, up from 36 cents in the first quarter of 2012. Revenues rose by 15%, to $368 million. Analysts had expected profits of 47 cents per share and revenues of $358.1 million. Margins improved greatly, with costs growing by just 8%. Meanwhile, the company forecast a healthy second quarter as well. As of midday Thursday, the company's stock had soared by more than 20%, to $43.45.

????The results were good enough to more than offset the "winding down" of some media accounts -- in particular a large video provider that is widely believed to be Netflix. That company is building out its own network and transferring more of its traffic management to it and away from Akamai and other providers. For Akamai, the wind-down is expected to be complete by the end of next quarter.

????When Netflix last June announced the creation of its own network, called Open Connect, Akamai's stock took a hit. But investors realized soon enough that even though Netflix was a huge customer, the move would actually be good for Akamai in the long run. Margins from Netflix are tiny because of the video giant's negotiating power. As the wind-down continues, Akamai will have more bandwidth available to sell to smaller customers at higher prices. Netflix is a special case: Few companies, even big ones, want to manage their own traffic on their own networks. It makes economic sense for Netflix but (at least for the foreseeable future) not for companies that are in businesses other than just delivering content to end users. Google's YouTube (GOOG) is another company that manages its own content delivery network.

????Besides the jump in average broadband speeds, the "State of the Internet" report noted the recent jump in cyberattacks, as well as the increasing sophistication of such attacks. The company benefits from this, too. Akamai reported that revenue from its "performance and security solutions" was up by 17% over the year-earlier period, to $157 million.

????During the conference call, CEO F. Thomson Leighton said:

????"It has become abundantly clear over the past several months that any company doing business online needs to be diligent about security. Online attacks are becoming larger in size, more frequent, more varied and sophisticated, and they are being launched on a global scale. For example, the attacks we witnessed while defending our U.S. banking customers during Operation Ababil came from servers located in more than 100 countries. These highly distributed attacks demonstrate why companies need to think about web security differently and also why we believe that they need the distinct advantage provided by our distributed platform."